Theory vs. Reality

Today I'm off to a jobsite, outdoor kitchen & foyer, mostly complete, to place lighting.  Of course locations for the sconces & chandeliers are already chosen.  Do you think that matters?  No.  Real world placement trumps theory.

I need a sofa at the foot of my bed.  Dozens of pics later this is the only one I've liked.  In theory it's perfect.
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Susanne Hudson, the decorator on my team, is sourcing it now.  She'll get one with the right dimensions & fabric.  Perhaps she'll have a list of bullet points, or a single reason, why this sofa isn't right.  I'll trust her judgment, it's her specialty.
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It's something my clients have taught me!  Patience, and trust.
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Too much money is involved to make a mistake.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

Patio Furniture Mix

Calm.  Quiet.  Then revelation.

Lunch in Kemah yesterday on Galveston Bay.
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Quietude of patio furnishings to perfection. Wicker, metal, wood with repetition throughout of colors, heights, invitation to relax.  They hired a designer.  That much is obvious.
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How things change.  I grew up here.  Designers?  In my youth nothing was paved.  Dirt roads, oyster shell parking lots & the seafood available was coming off  shrimp boats.
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At my back, while taking this pic, is Galveston Bay with the boats coming in to Clear Creek and Nassau Bay.  Remember the Hilton Hotel where the woman ran back/forth over her husband & said it was an accident?  Near here!
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Beware using all metal furniture on your patio/deck.  Exceptions exist.  Be sure yours is.......    
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Crabcake sandwich & bowl of shrimp gumbo.  Fed the birds until someone pointed out the signs, "Do not feed the birds."

Lost Garden

Client recently decided to rent The Cottage this plan was designed for.
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Inspiration for another day!
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
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Still pouting since I received the call a few weeks ago.  Pic, lost provenance.  If you know I'll credit.

Espalier Fruit Trees

Discovering another victim of the economy.  Large wholesale espaliered fruit trees.
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At pricing for regular people.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
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pic via Arne Maynard.  

Feeding the Muse with Slim Paley

My Muse came in 1995.  Gardens were erupting.  No brakes since.  

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Only once, late 90's, did my Muse sleep for a bit.  

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Awful.  Why did Muse go & how to get Muse back?

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Muse needs Nature without man's touch.  I'm on the woodland trails at Stone Mountain Park most days of the week.  

Muse adores and is fed by travel, top pic.  Oddly, Muse is content, demands, working in the current realm.  Muse hasn't said, "Travel........"  in the past couple years.

Muse appreciates extrapolating art-to-art-to-art, above.  What delightful arrangement of shrubs-groundcovers-understory trees-focal point will produce the magic, above?  Seriously.  I read & look at pictures about myriad art forms to feed the garden Muse.

Infertilly childless I've had women friends in their 80's since my 20's.   Chanteuse all, & I understood their songs.  Most are gone but Muse is still energized by their spirit.
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These things, and more (books/movies/solitude/Conservatory time), I do for Muse.
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Garden & Be Well,         XO Tara
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A Creativity Workshop sends emails about 1/year.  Course description is fascinating & so is the price, into the thousands of dollars.  Whatever.  Pics, Slim Paley

Hallmark of Bad Contractors

Studying historic landscapes across Europe should be mandatory for landscape contractors.

Several years now with my dream team I remember too well the dark years of contractors.  "You can't do that."  "No, can't be done."  "That will never work."  "It has to be done this way."  "It won't last."
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Better, my dream team leverages my designs.  "Miss Tara, if we........"  "Miss Tara, there are 3 ways to approach that."  "Great, thank you Miss Tara."  "Miss Tara do you think Miss #$%^@# would like to have...."  "Did you get the pictures I sent about a new idea?"  "Miss Tara that can't be done but if we a-b-c it will be exactly what you want."  "Let me show you something I think you'll like for the Woodland House Miss Tara."  "Those aren't available, I think a-b-c would be good substitutes."  "You know Miss Tara what you want is too expensive but if we do it this way I think you'll get what you're hunting."  "Tara, I think a-b-c will be better."
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Adore my team.
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Garden & Be Well,       XO Tara
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Dry stack stone retaining wall, above right, is a great example of what the Mr. No contractors said could not be done.
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Pic via Old Long Island.

Choosing Flower Color

My sister LOVES pink.  Yet she would never be this bold, below.

Choosing garden flower colors I always pay attention to interiors & what my client is wearing.
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Just did another design with the client wanting all white flowers.  White always works.
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Garden & Be Well,           XO Tara
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White flowers show best from a woodland, blue or burgundy flowers show very little at a distance......
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pic via House Beautiful

Vintage Bikes

My new office/guest cottage is close to the Bike Trail.

3 vintage bikes bought yesterday from my favorite thrift store.
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Can't wait to peddle with my girlfriends.  Of course we'll lunch first in the Conservatory.
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Isn't anticipation great!
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Garden & Be Well,        XO Tara
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Must find time this weekend to clean all that rusty chrome.  1 boy bike was included.  All the bikes have fenders.  A friend with acreage lives only a mile away, and on the bike trail.  He's a destination for sure.  Along with Mary's atelier.  She makes garden troughs sold nationally & is Yard Friends with the guest cottage.

Rule for Pots

After seeing the Queen mother's pots at Glamis Castle I knew the Rule-For-Pots.

Pots in a garden must be so fabulous they can remain empty.
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These pass the test.
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Do yours?
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
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When I lived on 50 acres in a 3 bay carriage house I saw my first Tulip Magnolia, Magnolia soulangiana, it was larger than this, above.  I walked to its trunk, wrapped my arms around it, held on, and stared up.  That was over 30 years ago.  It was obliterated years ago for a Wal-Mart parking lot.
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pic via Quintessence Lifestyle

Seek & Amplify Frissons

Incomplete new construction, below, already a charming spot.

From this zone, 1 room deep, both front & back gardens are seen.
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Adore this type FRISSON.  Landscape Design is all about intensifying existing frisson's & creating more.
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Garden & Be Well,        XO Tara
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The Table, Diane Von Furstenberg

Lunch in the Conservatory yesterday.  Who can eat alone without a book?  

Had to make calls to clients, then leave for appointments.  The book remains anticipation.
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$2.02 from the thrift store I knew it would be worth it without perusing.  Diane Von Furstenberg is a huge supporter of the High Line Garden in NYC.  Better than expected, Diane's own garden in Connecticut is featured.
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Interiors, gardens, recipes.  Beautiful photography.
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Garden & Be Well,               XO Tara
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Pure catnip getting this book so cheap.  Plenty more here.

Creating Layers

View into the garden, below.  Pic taken at jobsite last week.

 Not mature yet, above, but doing its job.  You don't know what that job was.  Means the job was done right.

My job?  Hide the view (pic taken 2 years ago) of the dependencies, above, create mystery, pull your feet to investigate, be a proscenium for all weathers, fill the spirit of any mood, provide entertainments for small groups, large gatherings & yet be easy to maintain while providing maximum pollinator habitat for potager, bees, & yet more.  Now we're in the realm of my Landscape Design classes.
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Every step in Landscape Design is counterintuitively simple.  
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Garden & Be Well,           XO Tara
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My basket is in yet another pic.  It was a 2 basket day.  Did you know I rate my days by how many baskets are needed?  The best days are 4 basket days.  Means I've been designing & lecturing & overseeing an installation.
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Last visit home my sister told me it was infantile and not appropriate for a woman my age to use baskets.  In fact, the little basket I was using embarrassed her.  We were having Sunday lunch at the club with mom.  It's a joy to irritate her without trying.  When the server was clearing away she told me how cute my basket was & what a great idea to use it.  Sensing the Cheshire smile my sister received from me?  Obvious I'm the younger sister.